I've been a very strong proponent of screwdriver antennas (I once had a Little Tarheel II that worked great), but find I need something different on my new vehicle and am curious about the Chameleon VL2. I see chatter about the antenna with the "Hybrid" base but at the Chameleon Antenna Forum (I tried to join but their registration widget seems to be in the fritz) 'Carl' seems to be saying it is not needed on the VL2. So that's the first question, is the Hybrid base needed when properly mounted on a vehicle? Second question, this is a whip antenna not unlike the various ham stick mobile antennas on the market, yet the Chameleon web site says, "VEHICULAR MOTIONLESS OPERATION (Stationary vehicle)". So can/should the antenna be used while on motion?

I realize that anything short of a full wave 80m loop on the roof of the car is a compromise, I just wasn't sure what actual VL2 users were seeing. I tried joining the user forum at the Chameleon site but like I said, it's not playing nice so I came here to ask real users. I recall years ago for example when I was looking for a compact multiband antenna for the apartment I lived in then and ended up putting up a G5RV that was the rage back then. To me, I think the antenna stunk, but as with many things, your mileage may vary... If enough actual users like the VL2, that would lead me to believe the antenna actually works better than what it looks like. Right off the bat we can see the Q of the coil means it's quite low, but I was hoping other aspects of the antenna compensated for that. I honestly cannot expect such an antenna to play well on 75M. As I alluded to originally, the Little Tarheel II I had worked great; I can only imagine how much better its bigger brothers work. I do want to have an antenna that is somewhat smaller than the car I'm driving so "bug catchers" and the Hustler antenna VP-1 windmill are out of the question. Ultimately another LTII will probably be what I end up with.

Thanks. This is interesting. The CHA Hybrid (with the wire portion removed) used together with a VL2 and a tuner of [your] choice, pretty much puts the customer where one would be buying a Little Tarheel II and a controller (optional). The LTII has higher Q than the Chameleon and that alone makes it a better choice for say 80 meters.

Actual User here. Don't plan on using the mobile Chamelon line of antennas to transmit effectively on 40 or 75/80 meters. The Hamstick blows those antennas away on these bands. Chameleon systems use a 9:1 UnUn, and this is something I have learned to avoid. So I got an Alpha MOTO Antenna that comes with a transmatch at its base. The MOTO is a lot less $$$ and does all the things that a Chameleon does. Still, I run an A/B Switch, 75/80 Meter Hamstick on one side and the MOTO on the other with a tuner. Whatever you do, buy the best mount possible that grounds your system directly to the largest frame of your vehicle and then run a ground strap to each of the body panels as well as one from the muffler to a section of body panel. I did this and my noise levels dropped from S7 to S4!

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